Beginner’s luck?
Nah.
It was more like beginner’s skill for Mattituck’s Diego Rodriguez.
A 12-year-old seventh-grader who stands 5-foot-1 and weighs 82 pounds, Rodriguez made a dazzling debut in high school varsity cross country at Indian Island County Park in Riverhead on a picture-perfect Tuesday afternoon.
Rodriguez, who has six days of junior high school under his belt, finished second overall and led Tuckers runners with a time of 18 minutes and 39 seconds over five kilometers.
“It wasn’t my best run, but, yeah, it was pretty good,” he said.
He helped the Mattituck boys team win its season-opening meet, defeating Southampton, 27-30. The Tuckers girls also emerged victorious over the Mariners, 18-31.
When the boys race began, Rodriguez bolted into the lead.
“Just push yourself as much as you can, go as fast as you can,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you come in second or whatever. If you beat your own record, it’s your goal.”
Rodriguez’s personal best is 17:41.
Asked what went well, he replied, “I had a positive attitude. Sometimes I get down to myself, that you’re doing horrible. But I just kept going, pushing myself.”
Rodriguez admitted he was nervous beforehand.
“Oh yeah, I went to the bathroom like 10 times,” he said.
But what a start — and what a finish.
“Once he gets some experience racing and understands, pace and tempo, I think he’ll understand the course a little more, I think he’ll do very well,” boys coach Mike Jablonski said.
Rodriguez got into racing when he was in elementary school.
“In elementary we always did the mile, and I got a really good time, but I didn’t really know what mattered,” he said. “My gym coach was really amazed.”
As an 11-year-old, Rodriguez decided to try the Turkey Trot in Mattituck last Thanksgiving. He finished sixth out of 966 participants with an impressive time of 17:45.51.
“I noticed how fast I was,” he said.
Rodriguez’s day wasn’t finished. He didn’t bus back Mattituck with the rest of the teams. His parents drove him to Central Islip so he could train with his SUSA Under-12 soccer team.
He was far from a one-young-man show. The Tuckers’ depth helped them to victory. Sophomore Marlowe Collamore (19:48) finished fourth and Mattituck runners took sixth through ninth places: senior Matt Rosato (20:03), sophomore Tyler Malkush (20:09), sophomore Logan Carr (20:20) and senior Colin Fitzgerald (20:44).
“The sophomores and the seniors ran as a pack, which pushed their runners down, and gave us the points,” Jablonski said.
Rodriguez wasn’t the only junior high standout, as eighth-grader Rachel Kubetz finished second in the girls race in 23:18.
“She was outstanding, and she was right behind me,” said sophomore Ever Meyer, who won in 22:44. “I thought she was going to catch me. She was shoulder to shoulder, half that race, and then she just got behind me a little bit. I know she could push harder. I know that she could beat me, and she can get first.”
Added girls head coach Chris Robinson: “Rachel is a young girl that likes to run and is coachable. It’s a great thing, because she’ll be around for a while, Finishing second, that’s even better. She still has a lot to do, and she knows that. She can only get better, but it’s an exciting race for her. It’s good for us, for sure.”
Other top girls’ finishers were senior Ruby Villani, fourth (24:07); freshman Maddie Mignone, fifth (26:09); and senior Haley Lake, sixth (26:13).
“I’m happy, but first isn’t my goal,” Meyer said. “My goal is to get to my best time. I know I could have done better. Our team has gotten so much better. We were finishing a minute apart. The biggest accomplishment was when I finished. My mind wasn’t, ‘I got first place.’ I turned around. Who’s behind me? Let’s cheer them on.”
There was plenty to cheer about.
“The first meet is always a baseline for us to continue to work,” Robinson said. “It’s good to get the times down on the first meet, and then we use those times to get better. That’s the goal. And these girls are going to work hard. I’m happy with how they finished. Everybody ran well, ran to their abilities. Now we just keep pushing forward and just keep getting those times down.”
The Tuckers won without senior Georgia Buckley, who finished 54th at the state cross country championships last year. Buckley, who cleared to run after an Achilles injury, cheered on her teammates.
“It’s going be good to get her back,” Robinson said.